I've posted this problem before, and now I have it again, but I can't remember how I got it corrected before.


I've played Bioshock on my laptop foe a long time, and then suddenly the game won't launch because of some missing security file. The recommendation was to reinstall the game. So....the game installs 75% of the way, and then gives mean error message;

FEATURE TRANSFER ERROR


Feature: Default Feature
Component: CONTENTDIR
File: E:\data 2.cab
Error: Data error (cyclic redundancy check)

I've tried everything I can think of. I've turned off my anti-virus, and malware scanning, but no luck.

I did somehow get it to do a full install, and then crashed because it could not update. It said it could not connect online.


Any suggestions would be much appreciated. You guys always come through for me.

Cyclic redundancy error usually means that the CD/DVD has gone bad and that some of the data can no longer be read. Have you tried cleaning it and/or looking for any visible scratches? Sometimes read issues can be fixed that way. Maybe someone else here will have another idea about your problem, but that's been my experience.

And just in case you did not know, GOG recently released Bioshock 1 and 2 Remastered - you might want to look into that if you haven't already.

Well I bought this DVD used when I had issues with the first one I bought. They both have scratches. Many scratches.

I have downloaded uTorrent, and trying to download Bioshock to use with that, but it's taking for-EVER to download.

It ticks me off that these disc go bad so easily.

Discs don't go bad that often (at least in my experience), in which case this may just be very bad luck.

As I said, maybe someone else here will have some other, more productive ideas.

The problem could be with the disc, with the drive, or with the combination.
Cyclic redundancy check errors mean the drive can't read the disc, or is having trouble reading the disc. Don't be sure the problem is solely with the disc. They can be pretty scratched up and still read fine, depending on how the scratches are located. CD and DVD drives get old and have more problems reading as they age, so a disc the drive was able to read in the past may be difficult to read now -- especially if the disc is marginal. Unless your laptop is fairly new, this is another possibility.


It may use online activation from a server that is no longer there. Going by what I read here
https://forums.2k.com/showthread.php?18452-Activation-limits-removed-on-BioShock-for-the-PC
the game seems to use both an on-disc version of SecuROM and a version that requires online activation. If your drive is having trouble reading basic files, it's unlikely to be able to pass the disc-based DRM. It needs to pass that as well as connect with the activation server.

I suggest buying the DRM-free version from GOG.
The direct download from GOG is usually pretty fast.
Steam and Humble also sell the game.

I wouldn't recommend trying to download a torrent. Wait for a sale if you have to, but get it from a legitimate source.

Not that this is your issue here, but Bioshock is one of those games which Windows 10 blocks because of DRM. I cannot install it on either of my Windows 10 drives. I didn't realize they had been released on GOG DRM free! That makes me very happy and I will definitely purchase them.

As an aside, I found there is Bioshock book. The cover is the same as the game and in the little I've read, it seems to follow the game closely.

Well I played my first Bioshock DVD until I had this issue. It played very well on my laptop Windows 10 for months. Then I bought one used and it installed and ran ok, again for months and months, on my Windows 10 laptop. It developed the very same issue, and I tried installing it on my desktop, and got the same error message on it, so I'm thinking it has to be the disk.

Anyway I went and bought it on Steam.

I've had other games that I have played forever and done many disc changes like Beyond Atlantis, my very first adventure game, and I'm still playing that one. I've never had this issue with any other game.

I think it is my bad luck. I had one of my favorite movies, Independence Day stop playing on both of my DVD players, and I bought another one which played very well for months, and then it too quit playing on both my DVD players.

Anyway, thanks everyone.


joe

It's not surprising that an older game disc from around year 2000 will be easier to read than game discs from later years. It's great that you're able to play games made for Windows 98 on your Windows 10 laptop though.

I started downloading Bioshock on Steam this morning, and it is still downloading.

Wow!
The game isn't that big.
According to the Steam page it uses only 8 GB hard drive space.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/7670/BioShock/
Do you think your ISP is throttling you?

Probably so Jenny. I only have 20GB data allowance per month from my Satellite provider.

I don't get throttled, but 8 GB would take at least 7 or 8 hours for me. The joys of living in the country...

8GB would take about 8 hours for me also. In the city.

I live out in the middle of nowhere and 8 GB would take me about 1 to 2 hours at most.

It's only been about a year that I got unlimited bandwidth and fast enough internet that we can stream Netflix and Prime TV! The only option out here is wireless broadband internet from a tower about 7 miles away. No cable out here! A new company bought this local company out and they are promising faster speeds in the future.

Even if you live in town and pay for gigabit download speeds, in practice you may get something less than 100 kb/sec range for downloads because of throttling. That's kilobytes/sec, not megabytes/sec.

Mine was 14/18/25/20 Kilobytes/sec when I am over my allotment. In three days it resets for the next month, and I see how it does with another game. It's HughesNet.

EXACTLY what I've heard about HughesNet from several people! Do you have a time of the day - like the middle of the night - when the throttling doesn't happen? One guy told me if he got up at 2 am to do a download, that worked better.

Exactly Draclvr. If I can get myself up at 2:00am I have 50GB of data allowance.

I downloaded Brothers in Arms yesterday in about an hour, and I've already used 24% of my monthly allowance, which just reset a day and a half ago.

While my internet may not exactly be speedy, I do have unlimited data. Which I am making good use of with Netflix, Prime and streaming music!